Mumbai: NSCI cancels annual Holi party in view of Coronavirus outbreak

A Holi gathering held earlier at the club

NSCI at Haji Ali has cancelled its Holi party, scheduled for March 10, as a precautionary measure against the Coronavirus outbreak. The gathering at the club, where at least 4,000 people, including members and guests, were expected, is a big day in its calendar.

Said Viren Shah, a committee member, "Until now, we had sold 800 passes, but many more were supposed to be sold in the coming days, given the interest. Yet, concerns about the spread of COVID-19 forced us to take this measure. Every member (R600) and guest (R1,200) who had bought passes for the Holi party will be refunded."

Shah added, "All NSCI office bearers and committee members took a joint decision on Wednesday. We wanted to exercise caution as our Holi celebrations at the club, which takes place in the parking lot behind the stadium, involve thousands of people mingling with each other, group dances and throwing colours, water. While the decision was not to spread panic or alarm, it is simply a matter of common sense and caution. Even Modi is not going to be celebrating Holi this year, reports state."

Lavish celebrations cancelled
The Holi celebration at the club is one of the most high-profile festival events in SoBo because of the sheer scale.

This time, Honorary Secretary Atul Maru said, "We were expecting at least 4,000 people, up by one thousand, from the 3,000 we usually got earlier. The celebration was supposed to be high octane, we had already started the hype, and had planned the event with two DJ's, DJ Hiren and DJ Ming. We had a rain shower planned and surprise gifts for guests."

The Holi party was supposed to take off at 9.30 am and would have gone on till 3 pm, with lunch thrown in. Both Shah and Maru said the lunch is usually, "very lavish, the club makes its money on guest fees for this celebration. But it is more about festive fervour than profits." Organic colours and water are provided by the club.

'We didn't want panic'
Maru said, "All NSCI office bearers and committee members had a discussion on Wednesday. We also spoke about the possibility of scaling down the event, and allowing it to continue in a downsized version. Given the nature of the festival though, that seemed impossible. We did not want any panic. In fact, since we have announced that it has been called off, some worried members have called us asking if this is being done on directions of the BMC health authorities, which is not true. We decided to call it off altogether, seeing the wisdom in the adage: better safe than sorry."

Rs 600
The amount each member paid for the celebration

Rs 1,200
Amount each guest paid for the celebration

4,000
No. of people NSCI was expecting at the party this year

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